The True Story of Borzicactus samaipatanus Borzicactus Riccobono © JL Joël Lodé (Spain) • ETYMOLOGY Genus honouring Antonio Borzi (1852-1921), director of the botanical garden of Palermo, in Italy. • DESCRIPTION Genus made up of erected, crawling or decumbent plants, with more or less sturdy, cylindrical, long stems, ribs rounded, more or less thick around the areoles, sometimes with chins. Spines relatively short and often numerous, aciculate. Flowers diurnal, more or less zygomorphic, with a long, slightly bent and more or less hairy tube, pollinated by hummingbirds (Patagona gigas, Phaetornis spp.), red, carmine to scarlet red, yellow, orange-coloured or pink. Fruits spherical to sub-spherical, generally fleshy with longitudinal dehiscence. Seeds brownish to black. 24 CACTUS-AVENTURES International N° 96 International CACTUS-ADVENTURES • COMMENTS The concept of Backbeberg to split taxa into a multitude of genera (splitting) provoked the inverse reaction (lumping) in Kimnach who, in 1960, proposed a “supergenus” Borzicactus including the following genera: Arequipa, Arequipiopsis, Bolivicereus, Clistanthocereus, Loxanthocereus, Maritimocereus, Matucana, Morawetzia, Oreocereus, Seticereus and Submatucana. Hunt adopted this classification in 1967. The proposition of Kimnach (1960) and Hunt (1967) was not accepted by the International Cactaceae Systematic Group, who grouped Borzicactus into the genus Cleistocactus. The genus became a sort of “lumber room” and Borzicactus was during all this time and with many changes, a taxonomical puzzle, which was resolved in 2006 by Arakaki. Although there is a strong relation now confirmed at 99 % between Borzicactus and Matucana (because of their morphological resemblance), the International Cactaceae Systematics Group rejected the proposition of Kimnach (1960) and placed Borzicactus within Cleistocactus. The actual phylogenetic data demonstrate that it is a mistake, Borzicactus (as well as Loxanthocereus), should be considered a valid genus (Arakaki et al., 2003, 2006, Schlumpberger, unpubl.). The DNA sequences suggest that the floral adaptations had been made in a convergent, but independent way within the main clades (also in Haageocereus and Loxanthocereus). For their part and on the basis of molecular studies, Nyffeler & Eggli (2010) as well as Lendel are convinced that Cleistocactus should be a genus restricted to the species found east of the Andes, defined as “flowers distributed anywhere along the stems without a particular order ”, with regard to Borzicactus which result mainly from west of the Andes, with taxa presenting “flowers confined on the apical part of the stems and appearing in a defined order from areoles of similar age near the stem apex”. The molecular studies of Arakaki et al. (2002, 2003) confirmed the exclusion of Borzicactus and Loxanthocereus from Cleistocactus and the recognition of Lasiocereus as a well defined genus, situated outside of the tribe Trichocereeae. It should be noted that Borzicactus Borzicactus aureispinus © JL crassiserpens is considered to be likely a natural hybrid between Borzicactus longiserpens and B. icosagonus., and that Hildewintera colademononis could be reappointed ‘Borzicactus aureispinus ssp. colademononis’. It is also possible that it could be a natural but stabilized hybrid between Borzicactus aureispinus and Cleistocactus brookeae ssp. vulpis-cauda. 25 CACTUS-AVENTURES International N° 96 International CACTUS-ADVENTURES Borzicactus neoroezlii (photo & coll.: J.L.). → at present, a dozen species are recognized (in part, Charles, 2010): Borzicactus aureispinus, B. crassisepalus, fieldianus B., hutchisonii B., B. icosagonus, B. leonensis, B. longiserpens, B. neoroezlii, B. plagiostoma, B. samaipatanus, B. sepium and B. tenuiserpens. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES: ARAKAKI Mónica. 2006. Trichocereeae Web. URL: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/soltislab/trichocereeae/default.htm CHARLES Graham. 2010. Notes on Borzicactus in northern Peru. Bradleya 28: 1-14. HUNT David .R. 1967. The genera of the Cactaceae, in The Genera of Flowering Plants. Oxford University Press, 427-467. KIMNACH, Myron. 1960. A revision of Borzicactus. Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 32(3): 92–96. LODÉ Joël. 1989-2005. Fichier Encyclopédique des Cactées & autres Succulentes. Séries 1-24. Ed. Edisud. NYFFELER Reto & EGGLI, Urs. 2010. A farewell to dated ideas and concepts: molecular phylogenetics and a revised suprageneric classification of the family Cactaceae. Schumannia 6:109-149. SIMBOLI Raffaele. 1903. Mark Twain from an Italian Point of View. Critic, Florence. 26 CACTUS-AVENTURES International N° 96 International CACTUS-ADVENTURES During his lif e, the famous North American hum orist Mark Tw ain had certain nu mber of more or less known double s, who sometim es led to confusion on the real identit y of some and the ot hers. In Germany, du ring a stay in B erlin in 1881, he was mistaken for Theodore M ommsen, em in en archaeologist t and historian of that time. Twain no ted : “ Been take n for Mommsen twic e. We have the sa me hair, but on examination it w as found the brains were different.” . In 1904, Raf faele Simboli, the author of the article "Mark Twain from an Italia n Point of View . " in the magazine "C ritic”, told : "On one of his visits to Floren ce he noticed that m any people pa ssed him with a fa miliar and frie ndly salutation, "B uon giorno, B orzì!" Mark Twain, th ough he was at a loss to explai popularity, an n his sudden swered with the same cord giorno, buon gi iality, "Buon Antonio Borzi orno!" He fina lly succeeded explanation fr in getting an om his friend Carlo Paladini The fact was si , the publicist. mply that Prof essor Antonio of the Botanic Borzi, Director al Gardens at Pa lermo, a distin scholarly man guished and well known in Florence, has su likeness to Mar ch a striking k Twain that ev en his friends w that the walkers ere deceived had confused hi m with Borzi !" . • DISTRIBUTION Bolivia (Florida, Santa Cruz), Ecuador (Azuay, Riobamba), Peru (Amazonas, Ancash, Cajamarca, Lambayeque, Lima, Piura). Text and photos: J.L 27 CACTUS-AVENTURES International N° 96 International CACTUS-ADVENTURES